by admin | Dec 9, 2024
The Hoshikawa Illumination event takes place along Kumagaya’s Hoshikawa Street, and it includes around 40,000 sparkling LED lights adorning trees in alternating shades of champagne gold and ocean blue. The elegant atmosphere makes it a perfect spot for a romantic stroll arm-in-arm with your significant other during the colder months!
Unlike some illumination events, the Hoshikawa Illumination isn’t limited to the Christmas period only – it runs all the way until the end of March, giving visitors plenty of time after the festive season to stop by.
The lights will be on from 5pm until 10pm during the event period, and there is no admission fee to appreciate their beauty.
Hoshikawa Street is located approximately 5 minutes on foot from Kumagaya Station, which is served by the Jōetsu Shinkansen, the Hokuriku Shinkansen, the Takasaki Line, and the Chichibu Main Line.
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by admin | Dec 9, 2024
Venue
Odate Municipal General Hospital
When
Early Dec 2024 – Early Jan 2025
The annual Odate Shining Street event runs from early December until early January.
The illumination is turned on daily at 4.30 pm during the light up period. It stays on until 1 am, which is later than most other night illumination. Moreover, they leave the illumination on until sunrise on New Year’s Day.
The area is an avenue of trees from the Akita University of Nursing and Welfare to Odate Municipal General Hospital. The 800 meter avenue has 82 trees, all of which are decorated in beautiful white lights.
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by admin | Dec 9, 2024
Explore Okinawa’s colorful ceramic creations
Ishigaki Island boasts a pottery culture as beautiful as its natural surroundings, and the Ishigaki Island Pottery Festival is an event that highlights this. Typically held over two days in early December, the festival includes a wide variety of pottery for purchase – not just from Ishigaki Island, either, but from neighboring Iriomote Island, Taketomi Island, and Yonaguni Island as well.
One of the big incentives to check out this festival is that the pottery available for purchase is sold at cheaper than normal prices, so it’s a wonderful opportunity to stock up on items for yourself or as gifts for loved ones in your life.
If you are planning on visiting, do note that the festival hours differ slightly each day. On Saturday, the event runs from 10am until 6pm, but on the Sunday this is shortened to 10am until 5pm.
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by admin | Dec 9, 2024
World Expo to return to Osaka after 55 years in 2025!
The World Expo (sometimes referred to as the world’s fair) will be held in Osaka, Kansai, Japan in 2025. It will be held from April 13 to October 13, 2025 at Yumeshima Island and is projected to welcome 28.2 million visitors. The theme of this exposition is “Designing Future Society for Our Lives” with subthemes of “Saving Lives,” “Empowering Lives,” and “Connecting Lives.” This will be the second time Osaka hosts a World Expo, 55 years after previously hosting in 1970, and 20 years after the last Japanese World Expo hosted in Aichi in 2005.
The World Expo is an international exhibition held every five years where nations showcase their latest and best inventions and innovations across a wide range of industries, including but not limited to technology and architecture. Technologies famously introduced at previous world’s fairs include the elevator, the telephone, electric cars, and more.
The official goals of EXPO 2025 are:
- To contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
- Achievement of Japan’s national strategy Society 5.0
The SDGs are 17 global goals adopted by the United Nations to improve life, society, and the planet. They include the eradication of poverty and hunger; as well as the achievement of affordable and clean energy, quality education for all, and gender equality. The target year established by the U.N. is 2030, five years after Expo 2025, so Expo 2025 hopes to act as catalyst for the realization of the SDGs. Meanwhile, “Society 5.0” is Japan’s national strategy for developing a human-centered society that achieves economic progress and resolves social issues through the implementation of digital technologies, such as AI, robotics, big data, and more.
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by admin | Jun 15, 2020
Coronavirus Outbreak
The outbreak of the coronavirus is having a big impact on travel activities in Japan in the form of travel restrictions, closures and event cancellations.
Current state of tourism: do not travel in and out of Greater Tokyo and Hokkaido
Domestic Travel Restrictions
Although the virus has not spread in Japan at an explosive rate as seen in Europe and North America, the central government declared a state of emergency on April 7, requesting people to stay home and certain businesses to close. After a decrease in new infections, the state of emergency was fully lifted on May 25.
Even after the end of the state of emergency, people in the entire country are requested to exercise social distancing and refrain from visiting crowded and badly ventilated places. In some prefectures, certain types of businesses and establishments are requested to remain closed or shorten their business hours.
People are also asked to refrain from non-essential travel in and out of Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama and Hokkaido, the five prefectures that saw the highest infection numbers, through June 18. Restrictions on inter-prefectural travel in the rest of the country were lifted on June 1. The remaining restrictions on domestic travel are scheduled to be lifted from June 19, and a campaign to promote domestic tourism is slated to start in late July.
Inside the cities, public transportation has not been greatly affected; however, airlines and long-distance bus companies have considerably cut their services, and seasonal and tourist trains have been suspended, although services are now being increased again. Intercity trains have mostly resumed their regular timetables after a reduction of services in May and early June.
International Travel Restrictions
Japan is currently refusing entry to non-Japanese people who have been to any of over 100 designated countries across the world within the past 14 days, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, South Korea, China and most European countries (including the UK), except under special circumstances.
Japan is also temporarily suspending visa exemptions for the time being, making it necessary for all visitors to apply for a visa before traveling to Japan.
Furthermore, all people entering Japan, including Japanese nationals, will have to undergo a quarantine at a designated location and may not use public transportation for 14 days upon arrival.
Likewise, there are many countries that refuse entry to people arriving from Japan or require travelers arriving from Japan to undergo a quarantine.
The above measures by the Japanese government are expected to be maintained through June, but afterwards a gradual reopening of Japan’s borders is being considered, starting towards countries where the coronavirus has been contained or which have particularly important ties to Japan (Thailand, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand are some first candidates). Business travelers and experts are expected to be given priority, followed by students and eventually tourists.
Closures and cancellations
A large number of tourist attractions are cautiously reopening these days, while others remain closed. Most events and festivals have been cancelled or postponed. Below is a list of major tourist attractions and their state of business in some of the more popular destinations in our sightseeing guide:
Tokyo
● Sensoji Temple (closed indefinitely)
● Tokyo Tower (reopened 5/28)
● Tokyo Government Building observation decks (closed indefinitely)
● Toyosu Market (reopened 6/8)
● Kyu Shiba Rikyu (reopened 6/1)
● Tokyo Disneyland (closed indefinitely)
● Tokyo DisneySea (closed indefinitely)
● Guided tours of the Imperial Palace (reopened 6/2)
● Imperial East Gardens (reopened 6/2)
● Hama Rikyu (reopened 6/1)
● Rikugien (reopened 6/1)
● Edo Open Air Museum (reopened 6/2)
● Shinjuku Gyoen (reopened 6/2)
● Koishikawa Korakuen (reopened 6/1)
● Koishikawa Botanical Garden (closed indefinitely)
● Kiyosumi Garden (reopened 6/1)
● Ghibli Museum (closed indefinitely)
● Institute for Nature Study (reopened 6/1)
● Sumida Hokusai Museum (reopened 6/2)
● Tokyo National Museum (reopened 6/2)
● Tokyo Skytree (reopened 6/1)
● Sumida Aquarium (reopened 6/15)
● Most events of the 2020 Sanno Matsuri (cancelled)
● Edo-Tokyo Museum (reopened 6/2)
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Foreign Embassies in Japan